Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP)

Updated 4/22/2008

The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) began in 2003 as a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental benefits of conservation practices used by private landowners participating in selected U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs. The project consists of three components:

• National Assessment - Providing national summary estimates of conservation practice benefits and assessing the potential for USDA conservation programs to meet the nation’s environmental and conservation goals. Cropland, wetlands, wildlife and grazing lands will be assessed.
• Watershed Assessment Studies - Basic research on conservation practices in selected watersheds nationwide to provide a framework for evaluating and improving performance of national assessment models.
• Bibliographies and Literature Reviews - Current literature on conservation programs. Four literature reviews are being developed that will document what is known and not known about the environmental benefits of conservation practices and programs for cropland, fish and wildlife, wetlands, and grazing lands.

...More background information about CEAP

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CEAP Fact Sheet (6 MB)

What's New

• CSREES has issued a CEAP Competitive Grants Program Request for Applications (RFA) for research and extension projects aimed at building a knowledge base that can be used to evaluate the impacts of conservation projects and programs on grazing land watershed health, improve the management of grazing lands to improve environmental goals, and inform policy decisions. The RFA closes June 17, 2008.
• CEAP Conservation Insight—Ecological Monitoring Insights from the Wetlands Reserve Program in Missouri. February 2008 (1.0 MB)
• Interim Report – Assessment of Ecological Services Derived From U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Programs in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley: Regional Estimates and Functional Condition Indicator Models. Interim report to NRCS from USGS, March 2008. (1.16 MB)
• Ecosystem Services Derived from Wetland Conservation Practices in the United States Prairie Pothole Region with an Emphasis on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs, February 2008 (0.1 MB)
• 2007 CSREES-NRCS Competitive Grants for CEAP Synthesis Announced. Two grants have been awarded to complete a synthesis of the 13 watershed projects previously funded through the CEAP competitive grants program. January 2008
• Fish and Wildlife Response to Farm Bill Conservation Practices. A synthesis of the literature on the documented effects of various agriculture conservation practices on fish and wildlife resources. September 2007
• Influence of U. S. Department of Agriculture Programs and Conservation Practices on Ecological Services Provided by Playa Wetlands in the High Plains, September 4, 2007 (1.0 MB)
• Ecology and Management of Scrub-shrub Birds in New England: A Comprehensive Review, August 30, 2007 (4.5 MB)
• CEAP Science Note: Using NatureServe Information to Assess Conservation Practice Effects on At-Risk Species, June 2007 (0.2 MB)
  Using NatureServe Information to Assess Farm Bill Practice Effects on At-risk Species and Habitats, Missouri Pilot Final Report, February 2007 (3.2 MB)
• EPA leadership endorses CEAP effort, May 31, 2007 (0.1 MB)
• The President’s National Wetlands Report for 2007 identifies accomplishments by Federal agencies to meet the goal of a net resource gain in wetlands quantity and quality. The report includes an overview of how the CEAP-Wetlands methodology will contribute to the national net gain goal.